2 Important Questions To Ask For Business Success

You may answer: software, creative, manufacturing, construction, financial, legal or accounting, to name a few.

That may be what you do each day when you go to work but the business you are in, regardless of industry, is: prospecting, sales and marketing.

Every day you need to be consistently following a plan of prospecting, sales and marketing. Without it, the company fails. With it, the company has the potential to be successful. Even very successful.

Success in business is about asking questions as you go about your work day.

Why?

Because…

* You get the answers you need

* It opens your mind to more information that otherwise, you may not have gotten

* Improves your decision making

To generate business success every day, here are two questions to keep in mind:

Does it work for the business?

It doesn’t matter what it is. It could be almost anything involved in successfully, profitably running a business. It could be about goal setting, a new hire not working up to expectations, the pressure of a looming deadline, change in plans, client demands, cash flow, scheduling, production – even your management style.

When you ask the questions, then listen for the answers. Listen to what you’re telling yourself. Feel what’s going on around you. Try to understand what is best and most appropriate for the business. Remember, the business takes care of you and everyone around you including co-workers, vendors and service professionals.

Does it work for me?

We tend to live in a “me-oriented” society today. Yet this is an important question to ask for business success, on a company level and on a personal level. It could bring you and the business a lot of money but it could also be something you don’t want or would be happy with. Always consider the short term as well as the long term vision with many of the issues you encounter each business day. It may sound good now but will it be in six months or a year from now? Always think it through.

Remember why you are in business: To make a profit. That’s the bottom line. Yes, it is also to help people that are your customers with your product or service. But the company still needs to make a profit in order to operate. You’re also in business simply because you want to be.

Which leads to the next point: Being comfortable with what you are doing. When you are comfortable with what you are doing, when what you do has a certain comfort level to it, you will:

* Come up with great ideas to improve the business

* Be more creative with your thought process

* Enjoy coming to work each day

* Enjoy working with the people you encounter each day

* Ready to take on any issues or problems

For business success, you can’t always be in your comfort zone or always enjoy everything that you do. For example, many business people don’t like to do paperwork. Yet it’s necessary so you do it. The key is to make sure that every action taken is something that will add substance to your life and to the bottom line of the company.

Remember – Two questions to keep in mind every business day:

Does it work for the business?

Does it work for you?

Once you begin to ask these two questions consistently, you’ll find your daily work life to be better, business will be better, profits will be better. The decisions you make will work for both the business and for you. To your success!

Howard Lewinter

Howard Lewinter is a business expert – strategist – business advisor to CEOs, presidents and business owners across a wide variety of industries throughout the United States. Follow Howard on Twitter: @HowardLewinter or connect with Howard on LinkedIn. Visit Howard’s website and blog: www.TalkBusinessWithHoward.com. There isn’t anything Howard likes better than to see business people succeed and prosper.